Toxic pufferfish spreads across Mediterranean, endangering fisheries

Marine scientists warn that warming Mediterranean waters are accelerating the spread of the invasive pufferfish Lagocephalus sceleratus. The toxin‑bearing fish, which arrived from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal, now reaches the coasts of Greece, Italy, France, Spain and Cyprus. A specimen over 50 cm was caught off Crete, where local fisherman Nikos Kurakis highlighted its potential to damage nets and poison humans with tetrodotoxin.

Ernesto Azzuro of Italy’s National Research Council said, “Sredozemlje naših djedova, naših starijih i starih Grka zauvijek je izgubljeno,” noting that rapid temperature rises of 1.8‑3.5 °C by 2100 could make the sea permanently unsuitable for native species. In the eastern basin, up to 93 % of mollusk populations have vanished, and invasive species such as the pufferfish and rabbit fish are outcompeting traditional catches, threatening coastal fishing communities.

Authorities have banned the sale and consumption of the pufferfish throughout the EU, but experts stress that without natural predators its expansion will continue, further stressing marine ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend on them.